Insignia of the 65th Infantry Division. The 65th Infantry Division was nicknamed the "Battle Axe" after the divisional insignia, a halbert (an axe on a pole), used to cut through the enemy during medieval times.
— US Holocaust Memorial Museum - Collections
Established in 1943, the 65th Infantry Division landed at the French port of Le Havre in late January 1945. The "Battle Axe" division was subsequently deployed to the German border in March, when it crossed both the Saar and Rhine rivers. In April, the unit turned southward, advancing into Bavaria, where it took the city of Regensburg and the town of Passau in early May. Shortly thereafter, it drove into Austria and captured the city of Linz on May 5. When the war ended in Europe, the "Battle Axe" division had made contact with Soviet armed forces.
While advancing through Bavaria, the 65th overran a subcamp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp on April 20–21, 1945.
The 65th Infantry Division was recognized as a liberating unit by the US Army's Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1994.
Casualty figures for the 65th Infantry Division, European theater of operations
Total battle casualties: 1,230
Total deaths in battle: 260
Division nickname
The 65th Infantry Division was nicknamed the "Battle Axe" after the divisional insignia, a halbert (an axe on a pole), used to cut through the enemy during medieval times.
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